I'm Right Here
by A Scarlet Rebel
Summary: How Marco SHOULD have reacted to Jenny coming to him about Andy. "I'm sorry, Marco, I didn't know Andy was going to do something--" "It's ok. I just want you to know that I'm right here. And I always will be." Hurt/Comfort Fluff. ONESHOT.


I'm Right Here

"Jenny?"

Marco approached the brown haired girl standing on the roof of the building, about four feet away from the edge, just staring at the New York City scenery that surrounded the structure.

The girl whipped around to face the sound of his voice, revealing the face of Jenny Garrison.

"Oh, h-hi, Marco," she said sheepishly, looking down at the ground and wiping her eyes with her left sleeve. Her voice sounded cracked, like she had been crying or was upset.

Marco looked at her with concern. "What's the matter?" he asked, stepping closer. "You sounded pretty troubled on the phone." She had called him earlier that day, telling him to meet her here. She had sounded distressed, and when he had tried to ask questions, she only begged him in a fragile voice to just come.

Jenny looked up at him when Marco reached her, standing directly across from her, almost like she was expecting him to yell at her or something. "Um… nothing, it's just that… well… t-today," she stopped in the beginning of her explanation, feeling a need to collect her thoughts before she said them out loud. Jenny took a deep breath before continuing, tears brimming her eyes slightly. "Marco, it's about Andy."

"Andy?" Marco asked, his voice suddenly cold. "What about Andy?" Andy was a sleazy guy who graduated from PA last year and had offered Jenny a chance at a role. But Marco knew it was just an excuse to hook up with her. He could tell, just by the way he looked at her.

Jenny grimaced at the icy tone of his usually easy-going voice. "Today he called me, telling me that a casting director wanted to see me about a role… and I went over to his set."

Marco groaned. "Oh no, Jenny, please tell me you didn't." He could already tell where this was going. He knew the kind of guy Andy was and he remembered the way he had looked at Jenny before at the party.

But Jenny took another deep breath, and despite the interruption, kept going with her recap of the things that happened on the set.

"And… we went into his trailer, and --"

"He didn't try anything on you did he?" he asked, knowing what she was going to say, and not needing anymore information to know what happened.

She only nodded, and said, "When he kissed me, I thought we were just reading lines from a scene, but…." She couldn't bear to go on. Jenny just looked at Marco, waiting for his reaction.

"I knew this was going to happen!" he exclaimed, throwing his hands up and not bothering to contain his obvious rage. At her slightly afraid expression at his anger, he allowed his face to soften a little bit, but didn't back down. "I just want to know one thing: Why did you do it? Why did you go over to Andy's set, even after I _told_ you that he was just looking for trouble?"

Jenny sniffed, and she looked up at Marco, towering over her, almost like he was demanding an answer.

"I-I thought there might have actually been a casting director, and maybe this could have been my one chance to actually get a real role --"

"And, what, it would all be ok as long as you got a role?" he insisted, his face hardening again. He couldn't believe that even after he told her about Andy, Jenny still went ahead and went to see him on set for a role. The thought of Andy even so much as touching Jenny made Marco swell with anger.

"Marco," Jenny begged, looking up at him with pleading eyes, her eyes puffy and faintly red. "I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head down to look at her feet suddenly. "I didn't know he was going to do something. I should have listened to you."

Marco heard the honest hurt in Jenny's voice and his facial expression softened. He knew that she meant it and that right now, she didn't want to hear I-told-you-so's. She just wanted someone to hold her and tell her everything was going to be fine. He knew that she was hurt and had been violated by Andy and just wanted to forget it all. That's why she had even called him: To reassure her, not to tell her that he had been right and that she was wrong.

He sighed, finding it useless to argue, when all it would do right now is make things worse. Gently, Marco grabbed Jenny's hand, causing her to look up at him, like she was surprised.

"It's ok," he replied softly, lacing his fingers through her own.

She gave him a weak smile, the only kind she could really muster at that second, and opened her mouth, sharing further with him, "I feel frail, Marco. It's like I was under his control and I just let him harm me. I feel hurt."

"I know you do," he murmured his words of comfort, putting the hand that wasn't wrapped in Jenny's on her waist, and pulled her closer to him. "I just want you to know that I'm right here. I'll always be here when you need me. And even when you don't. I'll be by your side." The words of comfort seemed to come easily now, almost naturally.

She looked up at him, this time grinning without even trying, the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes earlier had now completely disappeared. "Thank you, Marco," she whispered, laying her head down on his chest. "I'm glad to know that I'll always have someone to catch me if I fall."

He smiled back down at her and took her into his arms, swallowing her in a hug. He felt that she didn't need any more speeches; she only need to be with him. That's all that it took to lift her sprits and make her feel strong again.

"Jenny Garrison, I know you'll do big things one day," he muttered, rubbing her back in comfort. "And I know you won't need people like Andy to get yourself a role. You'll get there someday soon. I have faith in you."

Jenny smiled and looked up at him for a second. "Do you really think so?"

"I know so," he simply responded. Then he grinned and went on, "Didn't I tell you that no one believes in you more than I do?"

She laughed and allowed herself to be embraced by Marco a little longer. The two just stood there in silence, swaying in the spot they stood, the afternoon fading around them and the sun just beginning to set a bit behind them.

Marco had forgiven her for going to see Andy, since she had gotten so hurt by the jerk. And Jenny seemed to be nearly fully healed, just by his acceptance of her and the mistake she made.

They stood in silence for a while longer, before Jenny suddenly spoke up from Marco's arms.

"Thank you," she bluntly stated, pulling herself away from his hug so she was at arms distance from him, just so she could look him in the eye without having to stare up at him. "Thank you for everything."

Marco smiled at her. "Didn't you already say that?" he asked jokingly. But he didn't wait for her reply. Instead, he only declared, "I'm here for you, Jenny. When you need me, I'm right here."


End file.
